March 25, 2011
Chance of a lifetime
High-scoring Polacek helps put Rensselaer in NCAAs for first time in 16 years
by Adam Wodon/Web Editor
(photo: Sara Melikian)
We've heard the story a thousand times. The kid who was told he was too small to get anywhere in hockey proves the naysayers wrong.
It seems, though, that no matter how many Kariyas, Giontas and St. Louises come down the pike, some people still cling to the size mantra. But even 5-foot-5 Nathan Gerbe is making a name for himself in the NHL these days.
Chase Polacek, on the other hand, is 5-foot-8 and a stocky 190 pounds. And, for the second year in a row, the Rensselaer forward is a serious candidate for the Hobey Baker Award.
So much for stereotypes.
"I heard it more when I got into high school -- kids were bigger, stronger, more mature," Polacek said. "Kids face adversity all the time. There were a lot of times when it did upset me and it was tough at times; you get down on yourself. But I had a lot of people on my side.
"My parents said, 'If it's really something you wanted to do, there's no one that could stop you.'’"
So, despite being relegated to the ‘B’ team on many occasions growing up, Polacek persevered. And eventually it paid off.
Though his devotion as a fan was more to the Minnesota Wild, like every kid growing up in Minnesota, Polacek dreamed one day of playing for the University of Minnesota, or perhaps one of the other nearby schools.
But, for one, he was -- and still is -- a good student, and the prospect of going to a high-quality school in the East appealed to him. And second, his small stature made him a less-prized recruit.
"When I stepped onto RPI's campus, with the combination of hockey and the tradition that's been in this program," Polacek said, "and the passion that Coach Appert and his staff had when we came to campus, the vision that they had for the program, I knew that it was something I wanted to be a part of."
Appert was recruiting Bryan Brutlag when Polacek caught his eye. Now both Polacek and Brutlag, who have known each other since playing on the same soccer team as 10-year-olds, are both seniors at RPI and have been part of the program's resurgence. RPI (19-10-5, 10-9-2 ECAC Hockey) was ranked 16th in early March and on track for an NCAA tournament berth.
"You very seldom ever totally know, but we felt good about him," Appert said. "We had such a lack of offensive talent in the program at that point. The thing is, you don't know what a kid has inside and how much better he's willing to make himself."
Polacek was in the right place to be nurtured in many ways. He got a lot of ice time with a rebuilding program yearning for a return to glory. And he got to work with one of the greatest college hockey players of all time, Jim Montgomery, then an assistant and now a head coach in the USHL. Montgomery played four years at Maine during its heyday in the early 1990s.
The funny thing is, Polacek didn't really know how good Montgomery was as a player until midway through his freshman year. That's when he saw the guy who'd been coaching him all that time in a video clip on YouTube from his Maine days.
"That's when I found out how special he was and what he meant to that team," Polacek said.
"It was the experience of a lifetime," he added. "There's not too many people that you can have coach you that have the experience that Monty had. ... I could always go to him about anything. He has so much experience and knowledge that any time he spoke you wanted to listen and absorb it, because it was useful information.”
The team had 11 and 10 wins, respectively, in his first two seasons, before busting out with 18 last year. That coincided with Polacek going from 11 goals to 26, as he was named ECAC Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. He has a chance to be the first back-to-back ECAC Player of the Year since Scott Fusco at Harvard in 1985 and ‘86.
In late February, he had 18 goals and 25 assists for 43 points, eighth-most in Division 1. Appert said that despite a quieter "lead by example" approach, Polacek's leadership is evident.
"His shorthanded, penalty-shot goal against Colgate," said Appert, asked if there was a moment that stands out the most. "The thing is, on breakaways, he's quite poor. He's probably at 10 percent. Whether it be breakaways or in shootouts in tournaments, he's missed a ton. He was 0-for-3 in our game against the U.S. Under-18 team. Yet here we are in a huge moment, killing a five-minute major in overtime, and he delivers.
“If he doesn't make it, we still have to kill off the penalty. It shows how big he is in big moments, especially as he's matured."
Some people thought this season could be derailed before it began, when the team lost blue-chip sophomores-to-be Jerry D'Amigo (Binghamton, N.Y.) and Brandon Pirri, with both deciding to turn pro late last summer. Polacek said there was never any hard feelings about it.
"I was really happy and excited for those two guys," he said. "It's their decisions that they were ready to play pro hockey and pursue their dream. Right away we put that behind us, and we were excited about the team we had in the locker room and confident in our guys. So those guys leaving just opened two spots of opportunity."
And now it's March, and RPI has a chance to make NCAA noise for the first time in a long time.
"You can't waste days this time of year," Polacek said. "You have to use every day to get better. ... We're striving to be perfect, but it comes from daily habits."
For a program that hasn't been to the NCAAs since 1995, everyone around Rensselaer is hungry for it. With that hunger comes antsiness, and fans and others at the school have grown increasingly excited. It's hard for the players to shut that out and concentrate on the day-to-day tasks that make winning possible.
"You think about it (the NCAAs), but if you think too far ahead, that's when you'll get in trouble," Polacek said. "That's actually happened once or twice; we start settling down and feeling good about ourselves. But realistically, you need to take those compliments and rankings, and go out there and strive to be even better, and know nothing is done until the last game.
"When my class came in, we were a younger team with a lot of bad habits. We just didn't know how to win games. We relied a lot on our freshmen in big moments. But the good thing that comes out of that is the experience. It has led to a lot of success."
Says Appert, "This is his chance, and his classmates' chance. They've already changed our program and the culture with their work ethic. Now's their chance to leave a mark."
Adam Wodon can be reached at awodon@nyhockeyjournal.com.
